Champion of the Strength Arcana
by zeno518
Summary: American exchange student, Matt White is enrolled into Gekkoukan High as the events surrounding the Dark Hour begin to unfold. Unfourtunatley for him he can't read kanji to save his life, luckily the genki girl known as Minako Arisato is there to help in exchange for some spanish lessons! What could possibly go wrong? FeMC/OC Read and Review possible Lemons/Limes...
1. Prologue: Santa Carla

Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3: Champion of the Strength Arcana

**Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction (zeno518) in no way owns any part of the Shin Megami Tensei video game franchise, nor does he own any part of the Shin Megami Tensei Persona Series other than purchasing the video games, manga tankobans, and/or any merchandise related to any of the aforementioned franchises. All materials (other than Original Characters, Plot Deviations, Computer and Programs used to write this fanfiction) belong to ATLUS, and other respective parties.**

Prologue

"_It's summertime and you know what that means,_

_Gonna head down to the beach and do some beachy things,_

_It's summertime and the feeling's right…_

…_It's the summer time!"_

_-Solid Bold's "It's summertime, lovin' in the summer (time)"_

Saturday, June 14th, 1998,

Santa Carla, California

_Never in all of the history of the California coastline had there been this early of a heat wave. Thermometers read 79 degrees Fahrenheit during the night in most areas and peaked at 103 degrees in the afternoon. The semi-rural coastal town, Santa Carla, was in no way spared from the Sun's sweltering heat that scorching month of March. However, being a sea-side town and all, that didn't seem to bother the locals in the slightest, it just meant that people could bust out their bottles of suntan lotion, surfboards, and summer clothing a little bit earlier than usual. In fact, there seemed to be only one citizen of the entire town that really complained at all about the heat._

"It's so hot!" whined a chubby five year old boy

_And that was this kid. _

"Why can't we stay at home with the A/C, Aunt Debbie?" the boy looked up at his dear aunt's face and looked at the amused smile gracing her features

"Because it's a beautiful day…" she sighed dreamily

The little fat boy simply pouted and crossed his arms

"No it's not!" he whines loudly

_As you could probably tell by now, he's an annoying little brat._

The boy's aunt put her index finger to her lip and had a pondering look about her.

"Hmm…" she hummed "…Well, I was going to give you a surprise after we took a walk down to the beach…"

The young woman gave her obese nephew a mischievous smile

"But I guess we can just go back inside and do something else instead…"

The little porker's eyes went wide after thinking about it for a few seconds

"Does that mean I don't get the surprise?" he says in an oh so adorable way

The young woman gave her nephew a playful wink and nudge

"Wow, you're catching on pretty quick!" she chuckles

_Ah, she knew just how to get her nephew's attention_

"Well…" the little chubster says "I guess I can endure scorching hot sand and pavement for a little longer…"

His aunt put a little visor on the porky boy's head and fixed the brim of her sunhat before speaking

"Ok, _mijo, _if that's what 'cha want to do."

_Hook, line, and sinker. Thus began a three hour long beach trip that included building sand-castles, riding the rides at the boardwalk, and eating some damn good frozen yogurt. Now they were standing on the stoop of an apartment building with Japanese characters written on a sign that hung over the door, looking up at the door._

"Aunt Debbie?" asked the kid

"Yeah?"

"Why are we just staring at a big building?"

"Remember when I said there'd be a surprise after we went to the beach?"

"Uh-huh…" replied the chubby kid with a raised eyebrow

"This is where my friend Nobuo lives."

"And…"

"He's going to figure out your Arcana!" she squealed in glee as she started hopping up in down in excitement

The chubby nephew clearly knew what she meant and began to do an epic fist pump and crappy attempt at a moonwalk combination

"Awesome!"

_Yep, that was the big surprise. Finding out the tarot card that resembled, or would resemble, another person was Nobuo's little talent. To this day no one knows how he knew what he knew, most doubt even he knew how he was doing it. But, the locals at one point or another would come to the Japanese guy's house and have their Arcana reading and then check with the local psychic to confirm the resemblance afterwards, and ten times out of ten he was right. Debbie would read the story of the Tarot to her nephew whenever he would spend the night at her house, and would then explain that each person and symbol that was a part of The Fool's journey was one of the twenty two cards of the Major Arcana. One night the chubby kid asked his aunt what the tattoo on her shoulder was, and she explained that it was her Arcana the Tarot that resembled her most, The Star. After that, every time he visited her he would ask her if they could find out his Arcana, and she would always tell him 'Someday…' Sunday, June 14th, 1998, 4:35pm was that someday…_

They knocked on the front door and were met by a Japanese man in his mid to late twenties with a derpy look on his face and a bulky set of headphones blasting out the Beach Boys into his ears. As soon as the man saw Debbie's smiling face and the chubby little kid holding her hand he turned off the Walkman and took off the headphones

"_Ohayo_, Debbie-tan!" he said with a unique accent that seemed to blend California surfer dude with "Japanese was my first language"

"Afternoon, Nobou-kun!" she nudged her chubby nephew forward "Look who it is!"

The derpy look was replaced by a confused and quizzical glance at the stumpy brat

"Holy _kurrapu_!" he said "It's a Buddha standing on my welcome mat!"

Debbie chuckled at her friend's antics and the nephew merely raised his eyebrow in confusion

"This guy is going to find out my Arcana?" he didn't believe that this crazy Japanese guy could possibly figure out the totally awesome Tarot Card that would resemble him

"Yeah, little broseph, Nobuo is gonna help you find your Arcana!" the quirky (and possibly insane) Japanese guy said as he ushered the aunt and nephew into his palace of quirk

The quirky (and more than likely insane) Surfer boy led the boy to a round table with twenty two cards with roman numerals at the top, a picture depicting some scene, person, or animal in the middle, and a word or two describing the card, all neatly organized into rows and columns

The surfer dude pulled out a folding chair and stacked a couple of phone books on the seat for the boy

"Sit down, bro" sighed the man from Japan

The boy climbed up the steel chair and sat on top of the make-shift booster seat

"Now what?" the boy asked his aunt

The young woman walked over to the light switch and dimmed the lights while her friend sat across from the boy

"This is normally the part where I ask for your blood type, birthdate, zodiac sign, and other stuff like that." He says with a goofy steeple-crowned hat adorning his head now "But your aunt already told me all of that stuff, so now alls we gotta do is find it!"

The chubby kid on the phone book booster seat raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes before responding to that

"And we do this…how?"

The Japanese guy smirked and whipped out what looked like an old 50's style radio with an open slot for something and Ouija Board with only roman numerals all glued together on a random hunk of wood.

"First, we put your birthstone in the Spirit Radio…"

The man did so with a hunk of garnet

"…Turn on the radio…"

He twisted a dial and quiet static filled the room

"..and now for the final step…" the man pointed to the weird Ouija board pointer-thingy "…place both hands on that…"

The kid did so

"…close your eyes…"

Again, the kid did so

"…now wiggle the piece until it feels like it's in a groove of some sort, and slowly push the piece along the groove."

"That's it?" said the kid with one eye open

"That's it."

The kid closed his eye and kept on wiggling the piece until he felt it was in a groove, and then just as instructed he slowly pushed the piece along the groove until it stopped.

The adults in the room were standing against the wall the entire time looking at the piece move while using sign language to secretly take bets

"_I bet you ten bucks that he gets The Fool." _Signed the Arcana guy

"_Twenty says it's The Emperor" _Debbie signed in reply

"_You're on_" and with that the two friends shook hands

"It stopped moving!" shouted the boy "Can I open my eyes now?"

The two friends looked at the boy and were shocked to see the result

_Those two were both wrong, little did they know that this little discovery didn't just give him a look at his future attitude on life, but it also allowed him a glance at a hidden power resting within his psyche_

The magnifying glass portion of the piece was over the number now

The boy opened his eyes and looked at the number under the glass and then looked at the cards to find the corresponding number.

"Found it!" the kid shouts as he picks up a card

"What is it Matt?" said Debbie as she knelt down to meet his eyes. The chubby kid looked at the card and then showed it to her…

Monday, April 6th, 2009, 4:35 PM/16:35 (11 years later)

Iwatodai, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

As the monorail doors opened out stepped a tall sixteen, going on seventeen wearing a black and white plaid shirt, blue denim carpenter jeans, a pair of fingerless motorcycle gloves, and a large duffel bag slung over his shoulder. In one hand he was carrying a bottle of water with a hole in the cap and a bendy straw poking through it and in the other he was carrying a map with directions to the "Iwatodai Dorm" of his new school. Headphones were covering his ears and blasting classic rock while he took a sip from his water. He eventually made it to the dormitory and whistled at the building

"Home sweet home…" he sighs

The young man turned off the iPod, rested his headphones around his neck, and took a deep breath before walking up to the door.

"Here goes nothing…"

Prologue: End

**Well, well, well. My first foray into the Shin Megami Tensei Persona fanfiction community! **

**I'm still undecided as to wether I replace the Protagonist/Minato Arisato with my oc, or have Minato (Or the Female Protagonist/Minako from Persona 3 Portable) still show up in story. So I leave to you, my readers vote for your choice:**

**OC replaces both protagonists as the Wild Card**

**Minato Arisato (Male Protagonist) shows up during the Dark Hour**

**Minako Arisato (Female Protagonist) arrives during the Dark Hour**

**I won't decide on pairings until after the above is decided!**

**Till next time, true believers (kudos to all who catch the reference!)**

**Remember to review!**


	2. First Night and First Impressions

Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3: Champion of the Strength Arcana

**A/N: Since only one person even bothered to reply I'm going with putting in the Female Protagonist as the Wild Card wielder and instead of calling her Hamuko I'm going with a gender flipped or gender play on the Male Protagonist's canon name Minato. Oh and as of this fic some of the things I throw in here might be in 1337 SP33K or ASCII ART just for fun…**

**Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction (zeno518) in no way owns any part of the Shin Megami Tensei video game franchise, nor does he own any part of the Shin Megami Tensei Persona Series other than purchasing the video games, manga tankobans, and/or any merchandise related to any of the aforementioned franchises. All materials (other than Original Characters, Plot Deviations, Computer and Programs used to write this fanfiction) belong to ATLUS, and other respective parties.**

!(^^)!

Chapter 1: First Night and First Impressions

"_I'm in a hostile environment. I'm totally unprepared. And I'm surrounded by a bunch of guys who probably want to kick my ass... it's like being back in high school!"_

_-Johnny Cage, Mortal Kombat: The Movie_

Monday, April 6th, 2009, 4:35 PM/16:35

Iwatodai, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

Matt White stepped inside the dorm and looked around. It seemed more like a ski lodge from Tahoe than a dorm.

"_Hello_?" he called out in English "_Anybody here_?"

He set down his luggage and sat up on the counter, his eyes scanning the room. He saw the couches around a coffee table, a TV, dining table, and several other things that made him think of a ski lodge in Tahoe. He heard footsteps coming from the staircase and his head turned towards them, he saw a white haired young man in a preppy-looking school uniform with a bandage above his left eye come down the stairs with a can of Mad Bull in one hand and a pair of boxing gloves tied together in the other

"You the American exchange student?" he asks with a neutral tone

Matt shrugged "_Quizas si_…" he says causing the white haired kid to raise an eyebrow. Matt chuckled at that "Yeah I am."

"You actually speak Japanese?" he asks, completely astounded

"Well, this is Japan and I am going to be going to school here sooo…" he looks around "…yeah."

Akihiko blinked in confusion for about a minute before introducing himself "Uh, I'm Akihiko Sanada. Senior."

Matt chuckled "I'm Matt White, Junior. I guess that means I've gotta call you Sanada-senpai, eh?"

Akihiko smiled "That's how it works."

Matt stood at attention and mock-saluted "Senpai, yes, Senpai!"

Akihiko chuckled "You always this much of a goofball?"

Matt, still at attention, "Hells yeah, senpai!"

Akihiko saluted back "At ease soldier!"

Matt slouched out of attention "So what do you do for fun around here?"

Akihiko beamed "Well, I train a lot…"

Matt raised an eyebrow "What kind of training?"

Akihiko's eye sparkled with fierce determination "How about a light jog?"

Matt nodded "Sure, I mean how bad could it be?"

6:45 PM/18:45

Matt was gasping for air, drenched in sweat, and dragging himself to his bags "That was not what any normal person would call a 'light jog', Senpai…"

Akihiko walked in, not the least bit winded or sweaty "I thought Americans had much more in them than that, you hit the wall not even an hour into the jog."

Matt pulled out a towel and a change of clothes "Do I look like a jock to you?"

Akihiko was about to say something but Matt held up his hand "Don't answer that just tell me where the shower's at."

The white-haired senior pointed to the bathrooms down the hall "furthest one down is the men's room."

Matt nodded his head "Thanks, next time we go training I'll try harder to keep up with you."

Akihiko was taken aback, this guy still wanted to train with him? Everyone else just up and quit on him because he was "too extreme"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"Shweet." He starts walking to the showers "Night, senpai."

"Night." He watched Matt go into the bathroom "Strange American…"

Akihiko walked out of the dorm and got back to jogging "Better get back to it!"

And with that he resumed his intense training

7:00 PM/19:00

Matt had finished his brief shower and put on a pair of sweats and a wife beater; he retrieved his bags from the lounge and started walking up the stairs to the second floor. He found his room and eagerly walked inside. As he looked at the Spartan dorm room he tossed his bag onto the bed and whistled "This place needs a little TLC…" he got several posters from his bag and began taping them to the walls. All was well until he had heard a girl in the room above him.

"I just... put it to my head... and pull the trigger... no chickening out..."

"What the fuck?" He whispered, was someone about to commit suicide in the room above him?

He heard something clatter across the floor above him and then some sobbing

"No! I can't!"

Matt went back to his original task of putting up his random movie posters, completely ignoring the obviously suicidal Japanese chick that lives in the room above him.

"Japan does have the highest teen suicide rate in the world…" he mumbles to himself trying to ignore the troubled girl above him.

It wasn't working.

"Fuck it." He says to himself. He pulls out a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of jeans and quickly put them on, the Hawaiian shirt left unbuttoned "Damn you conscience, I hope you're happy…"

He jogs up the stairs and knocks on the door he thought was to the suicide girl's room, he guessed right and a girl about his age in pink cardigan with brown hair and a choker with a heart on it. She looked at Matt with a look of confusion on her face

"Uh, hi." He said

"Hello…" she replied

"Yeah, I'm Matt White." He stuck his hand out for her to shake, forgetting that Japanese people don't do that "I, uh, transferred here from the States"

She shook his hand anyway "I'm Yukari Takeba, I live here."

They stood there for about a few minutes "Yeah…" Matt said "…I'll leave you alone forever now…"

He walked back down the stairs

Yukari looked back down the hall "Americans…" she sighed

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 12:00 AM/00:00 [~|)/-\rk |-|0|_|R~]

Matt was walking down the hall to the vending machine when he heard the front door open on the first floor. Curiosity scratching at his American brain as if it were a puppy beckoning his owner to open the freakin door already and let the poor puppy in. His _boundless _observations skills failed to tell him that; the lights weren't on, none of the electronics were working, and the whole world was bathed in creepy green light! He thought he heard a young boy's voice as he walked down the stairs, but when he got to the bottom step all he saw was a girl about his age with auburn hair and wearing a Gekkoukan High uniform staring at a spot on the wall as if someone was just there. He checked her out for about ten seconds before making himself known.

"_No sabía que los ángeles tenían los ojos rojos…_" he said loud enough for her to hear

She turned to face him, her confusion displayed prominently on her face "Uh…" she took out a pamphlet from her bag and skimmed through it "Am I in the right dorm?"

Matt walked over to her and sat on the bar where the sign-in sheet was "This is the place." He pointed to the picture on the front page "'Iwatodai dorm, a co-ed facility'" he read from the pamphlet. The look on the girl's face was absolutely priceless, she started stammering and looked up at Matt who promptly raised his eyebrows twice along with a shit-eating smirk.

"Who's there!?" it was Yukari holding a gun

Matt looked over to her and raised his hand up "Relax, it's me and…" he looked at the girl

"Minako. Minako Arisato…"

"…Minako." He looked at the gun "Why don't you put that thing away before you hurt someone, eh?"

The lights went back on and the green glow disappeared, Matt checked his watch and saw the hands at 12:01

"Right on time, finally…" he whispered, only Minako heard him. She was about to ask him what he meant, but someone else had joined them

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late…" a mature looking girl with long red hair and a modified Gekkoukan High uniform and high heels walked down the steps "Nor did I expect our American exchange student to arrive so early."

Matt shrugged "I took the earliest flight out of LAX."

The red haired girl walked over to the lounge and motioned towards the couches "Shall we?"

Matt got off the bar and walked over and sat next to Minako while the red haired girl sat on the chair and Yukari sat on the couch opposite of Matt and Minako.

"Well, introductions are in order." Said the red haired girl "I am Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students who live in this dorm"

She points over to Yukari "This is Yukari Takeba…" she points to Matt "And you've already met White-san."

He pointed both of his thumbs to himself "This guy."

Yukari scoffed, Mitsuru smirked, and Minako chuckled

He glanced at his watch and got off of the couch "Well as much as I do enjoy spending time with three beautiful ladies, I'm gonna hit the sack…" as he walked up the stairs he called out "_Buenas noches, señoritas._"

As he walked into his room, a thought wormed its way into his skull "Damn! That Minako girl was as hot as the California sun!" unfortunately for him he actually said that out loud as the girl in question was about to walk up the stairs to her room along with Yukari

"Americans…" sighed Yukari, Minako merely chuckled

"He seems alright to me." She said "Not to mention he's pretty funny."

This went past the American's head as he sat down at his desk and began writing a letter

_Dear Aunt Debbie_

_First day in Japan. I'm staying at this co-ed dorm in the city, place seems nice. There's four other students living here; a fitness nut named Akihiko, a preppy girl named Yukari, a rich chick that pretty much embodies authority called Mitsur, and then there's this girl that showed up just a few minutes ago. Her name is Minako Arisato, and I have to say that she is pretty damn hot. I think I'm gonna like it here in Iwatodai. I've gotta go to school in the morning so I better hit the hay. I wish you could be here._

_-Matt_

Chapter 1: First Night and First Impressions (END)

**Next time on Champion of the Strength Arcana!**

"_I wanna know who the fuck put a hidden camera in my goddamn room right now!"_

"_Leeroy Jenkins!"_

"_Per..so…na…"_

"_Orpheus!"_

"_Maahes!"_

"_You've been out of it for a week, you know that?"_

**Champion of the Strength Arcana, Chapter 2: The Magician, The Mistress of Strings, and The Lion Lord of Slaughter!**


	3. Magician Mistress Lion Lord of Slaughter

Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3: Champion of the Strength Arcana

**Disclaimer: The author of this fanfiction (zeno518) in no way owns any part of the Shin Megami Tensei video game franchise, nor does he own any part of the Shin Megami Tensei Persona Series other than purchasing the video games, manga tankobans, and/or any merchandise related to any of the aforementioned franchises. All materials (other than Original Characters, Plot Deviations, Computer and Programs used to write this fanfiction) belong to ATLUS, and other respective parties.**

(^0_0^)

Quick Note: if something is in italics it usually means it's a language other than Japanese (E.G. Spanish, French, English) Also! I do not hate Yukari; I just totally see her acting like a bitch to an American…

Chapter 2: The Magician, The Mistress of Strings, and The Lion Lord of Slaughter

"…_But then you'd get fat"_

"_No I wouldn't, what makes you say that?"_

"_Bread makes you fat."_

"_Bread makes you fat!?"_

_-Ramona Flowers and Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (The Movie not the Graphic Novel)_

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009, Early Morning

[Iwatodai, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan]

Matt White was doing pushups in his room. Just as he did every morning at five AM, all while listening to the same one artist playlist. Typically, he would do his sets for the day and then take a light jog along the coast. However, there was no coast to run along in Iwatodai, not like the beaches of Santa Carla. So after he got done with his pushups he was at a loss at what he was going to do with the rest of his morning…over some coffee of course. When he got down he saw Akihiko dumping some protein powder in some kind of health shake, Matt began clicking his tongue

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Akihiko looked at the American "That is no health drink my white haired _compadre_"

Akihiko was completely confused "What?"

Matt walked over to the kitchen and brought out; two raw eggs, two bananas, a can of tuna, and a bottle of Tabasco.

"That's weaksauce compared to Tiger Tonic, Sempai." Matt looked around the cupboards "You got a blender or something?"

Akihiko grabbed the one from the pantry and put it on the counter

"You guys put your blender in the pantry?"

Akihiko shrugged "Yeah…"

"Wow. You guys sure know how to keep it weird." He sighed as he put the ingredients into the blender and…blended them. This unholy mixture created a yellow liquid that was emitting strange fumes

Matt took out a glass and poured the alchemic slop into it. He chugged it down and coughed once while pounding his heart

"Tiger tonic, this is the shit right here." He decided to go for a run "See ya, Sempai!"

Akihiko was too busy staring at the horrid mix in front of him to see him leave or say anything at all

Against his better judgment he poured himself a glass of the concoction and added some of his protein powder for good measure

6:57 AM/06:57

Matt was sweaty and his clothes were mangled and bloody when he got into the dorm. Mitsuru was looking at him with her arms crossed

"What on earth happened to you?" she asked both out of curiosity and concern

"Got (gasp) chased (gasp) by pack of (pant) huge ass friggin' dogs…" he proceeded up the stairs with wide and fearful eyes

Mitsuru walked over to the door and opened it. All she found was a little Chihuahua with some bloody fabric that looked like it belonged to Matt's shirt

"'Pack of huge ass friggin' dogs', eh?" she chuckled and shut the door, just in time for her to miss the demonic look in that Chihuahua's eyes and the foam that started coming from its mouth…

Approximately 7:00 AM-ish/Approximately 07:00-ish

Matt had taken a quick shower and changed into his Gekkoukan High uniform, geared up and ready for his first day at the cutthroat world of the Japanese Public Education System. He throws his door open and starts walking down the hall; his eyes are closed as he imagines all sorts of scenarios where he enjoys all of Japan's urban wonders. As he thought about Japan, he realized something; his cousin Ricardo (He preferred Ricky) was an Otaku, not only that, but he was a Grade A Japanophile! His inner evil genius started curling his handlebar moustache as he thought about this, soon the giddy was uncontainable and he busted out in excitement.

"_In your face, Ricky!_" He shouts to the ceiling "_I made it to British first, bitch boy_!"

He then proceeded to laugh maniacally with his arms crossed. He did not notice Yukari looking at him like he was a freak, Akihiko passed out on the kitchen floor (from the tiger tonic/protein powder mix), and Minako chuckling. Matt heard the chuckle and froze. He slowly turned his head towards the two girls and a look of both complete embarrassment and shock was on his face

"How much of that did you ladies hear?" he sighed

Yukari crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow "Enough to know that Americans are clearly a bunch of morons."

Minako just smiled and waved "Good morning, White-san." She said cheerfully

Matt chuckled and bowed "Good morning Arisato-san…"

Yukari groaned in frustration and grabbed Matt by his ear and begun dragging him "Come on, American. We've gotta go to school!"

"Those are attached you know!" he yowls in pain

Minako grimaced as she watched her new…acquaintance be dragged off by her other…acquaintance

[New City Passenger Train "Anehazuru"]

Yukari and Minako were sitting on one side of the train while Yukari forced Matt to sit on the opposite side. Now someone out there in cyberspace is probably asking how an American young man who was semi-athletic and headstrong was forced to sit across from such a lovely young lass, whom he has recently taken an interest in. The answer is this: Yukari Takeba.

Just three minutes prior to the trio of high school students boarding the train, Yukari had decided to crack the whip

"You're not sitting anywhere near Minako-chan, got it?" she had said to him at the strip mall

"Wha? Why the hell not?" he stuttered, he had planned on sitting next to Minako and attempt to get to know her better. Unfortunately the girl formerly known as Yukari Takeba (Now forever known in his mind as Miss Cockblock) had to be the epitome of her new namesake and do this…

Back in the present, Yukari was chatting it up with Minako about how the bridge across the bay is her favorite part of the train ride and stuff. All of a sudden, a hip-hop looking guy with a huge boombox on his shoulder walked in from the other passenger car.

"_Show time_…" Matt whispered.

The Hip-Hopper hit the play button on his boombox and some electronic music flooded the car (Crescendolls by Daft Punk)

Matt grinned and looked over to Yukari who was looking at the random salarymen, students, and other townies, rising from their seats to begin dancing an intricate and badass hip-hop/pop-and-lock routine up and down the train aisle.

"What the hell?" Yukari asks to no one, clearly peeved

"I think it's some kind of flash mob, Yukari." She says, clearly enjoying the spectacle and stating the obvious

Matt starts chuckling and nodding his head to the music, Yukari notices and scowls at him "What's so funny?"

Matt smirks at Yukari "Only this…" one of the mobbers grabs Matt by the forearm and switches seats with him; Matt joined in on the dancing.

"You've got to be kidding me." Yukari facepalms

Minako starts cheering for the dancers as they get to the bridge of the song, Matt and two other guys pop-and-lock to the scratches of the beats.

Just as the train passengers (minus Yukari…buzzkill…) started to enjoy the show, the doors opened and all of the dancers, minus Matt, scrambled before the cops or whatever could get anybody busted. Matt swaggered over to Minako and held out his hand

"Milady, it would be my honor if you would allow me to walk thee to school this fine morning." He said with the Japanese equivalent of a medieval British accent

"You may." She says with a smirk. She takes his hand and walks with him off of to school

Yukari was so busy muttering about Americans and flashmobs that she was almost left behind on the train…her sweater actually got caught on the doors as she walked out the door and it tore a little before miraculously getting free.

"Damn Americans!" she shouts as she runs to catch up to both Matt and Minako

[(Some Time Later) Gekkoukan High]

Some random and nameless female student waved at Yukari "Morning!"

Yukari sighed and waved back "Morning…" she sighs, defeated

Matt stopped and stared at the open gate, he noticed that if they were to be closed the gates would have a fancy emblem in the center, that and of course and the building that seemed to be a little too fancy despite how plain it seemed to look.

"Whew!" he says "This place is even fancier than he brochure said it would, _ya know_?"

Minako was just as much in awe as he was "I'll say…"

Yukari started dragging Minako and Matt into the main building "The class assignments are on the bulletin board in the lobby, but you're gonna have to meet with your homeroom teacher in the faculty room right after." She starts walking off to the second floor "See ya!" she says as she takes off her shoes and puts on the slippers they had to wear

Matt chuckled and pointed his arms towards the lobby

"After you." He says with a grin

Minako faked a gasp and smiled "My, what a gentleman…"

Matt chuckled in reply and followed her into the lobby. They both walked up to the board and looked for their names. At first, Minako couldn't find her name, but after a second look she found it…

…

…

…

…

…

…Matt had no such luck

"_Pendejo! _I can't find my friggin'name on this thing!" he said in frustration

Minako patted him on the shoulder "It's okay, you're probably just not used to reading kanji yet…"

If Matt were to have turned around, Minako would've been able to see the look of absolute terror on his face

"Y-yeah, tha-that's it…" he says nervously "J-just not used to reading kanji yet…"

Minako was so busy looking for Matt's name she didn't even notice his tell.

"Yatta!" she shouts and points her finger to a line of kanji "Here it is!"

Matt looked at the name and tried to memorize the way it looked so he wouldn't screw up writing it

"It's written as 'Howaito, Matto', you were probably looking in the Wa's…" she chuckled "Anyways, let's go find Ms. Toriumi."

Matt raised an eyebrow "And who is that exactly?"

"Our homeroom teacher, silly." She chuckles

"And how do you know that?"

"It's right next to our names…" she points to hers and then moves her index finger to the classroom, which was written in western letters as "2-F"

"Ah…" he sighed

So the two transfer students walked to the faculty office to meet their homeroom teacher

"Oh!" Minako said as she stopped walking "I almost forgot to ask you something!"

"Hmm? What?"

"You've been saying words that I've never even heard before…" she says "Like what you said last night '_Buenas noches, señoritas', _what does that mean?

"Oh! You mean my gratuitous use and occasional butchery of the Spanish language." He says

"You've been speaking Spanish this entire time?"

"Yeah, I'm from _SoCal_." He says "I've been living with my _Tia _Lulu and my _Tio_ Fernando, and they don't speak a word of English. So I had to learn and I've slipped in and out of it ever since…"

"That's cool!" she shouts "Isn't Spanish like, the language of love?"

Minako's eyes were sparkling

"That's French…"

Minako's eyes were no longer sparkling

"Oh…" she says with a crestfallen expression "It still sounds like a cool language anyway…"

She starts poking her fingers together

Matt checks his watch "Oh, shit! Come on we're gonna be late!"

She immediately goes back to "Genki Girl mode" and grabs him by the wrist "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

With that she dashes off with him trailing behind. Plenty of students saw this and the rumor mill went wild…

…of course that won't bite anybody in the ass till later

[Faculty Office]

The two transfer students walked up to Ms. Toriumi

"Oh, are you the new transfer students?" she says "Minako Arisato and Matt White, 11th grade, right?"

Minako nodded

"That's right." Matt says

"Hmm…" Ms. Toriumi says "So how are you enjoying Japan, White-san?"

Matt scratched his head "It seems cool, I just barely got off the plane yesterday afternoon"

"Oh…"

She takes a look at Minako's file

"You've been a lot of places, haven't you?" she asks her "Let's see… in 1999. That was about ten years ago. That's when…"

Her eyes widened and she gasped "I'm sorry…I've been so busy that I didn't have the time to read this beforehand…"

Minako seemed, sad for some reason "It's alright…" she says without her usual peppiness

Matt noticed but didn't comment

Toriumi quickly changed the subject "I'm Ms. Toriumi, I teach Composition and I will be your homeroom teacher"

Matt nodded and smiled "It's a pleasure."

The teacher smiled "A polite American, fascinating…"

"You expected a rude asshole redneck wearing a flag on his head?" he quips

"Something like that…" She smirked "Well, we'll have to go to the auditorium before heading to class; the welcoming ceremony will be starting soon."

She gets up and walks towards the door

"Follow me…"

[The Auditorum…OF DOOM! Just kidding, it's still just an auditorum…or is it?]

"As you begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.' When applied to student life, this means..."

The Principle of Gekkoukan High was the following things; old, short, fat, plagiarizing, and arguably dumber than a sack of hammers. He also had a voice that would rival that of Ben Stein.

"_This guy is boring me to sleep_…" thought Matt as he was fighting to stay awake. He felt someone tap on his shoulder; he looked up and saw some random guy from another class

"Hey, are you the American transfer student?" he whispered

"I don't know; let me take my extra strength vitamin 'Duh'." He mimes opening a pill bottle and swallowing a pill "Duh."

"So it's true that you came to school with Yukari and the other transfer student, arm in arm?"

Matt mulled over telling him about how Yukari was being a bitch.

"Semi…" he says

"What the hell does that mean?"

Just then Mr. Ekoda (Lord Douche Bag) walked over

"I hear talking! I think it's someone form Ms. Toriumi's class!"

Matt looked over to the group of kids sitting behind Minako and Yukari and then saw Ms Toriumi chastising them

"Woah…" Matt whispered. He remained silent for the rest of the assembly

[Classroom, After School]

Matt was lucky enough to snag the seat next to Minako at the beginning of homeroom. Unfortunately before he could begin speaking with the cute redhead, a voice appeared in the back of his head

"'Sup dude!"

"Satan? Is that you?" Matt asks in mock fear and surprise

"Hahaha, smartass…" says the voice

Matt turns around to see one of his classmates, Iori, he believed

"You two look like deers in headlights!" he chuckled

"Who are you?" asks Minako

"I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid. So I thought I'd check up on you two, make sure you weren't freaking out on your first day." He says to them. Almost as if any amount of good cheer attracted her, the Killjoy decided to step up

"At it again?" she sighs she was about to say something but was interrupted by the only American in the gorram school

"_Pleasure to meet'cha, Junpei_." Said Matt with an Irish accent "I'm Matt White."

"The American transfer student right?" he asks with awe "Dude, that's friggin' awesome!"

Matt was confused "What? That I'm American?"

"Well…Yeah!"

"HELLO!" called Yukari "I'm trying to say something here!"

"You just did…" said Matt with a cheeky grin

Yukari groaned "Listen, I've got some archery team stuff so you two bakas better not try anything funny with her, got it?"

"What if we want to do some slapstick comedy?" asked Matt

"Or a manzai act?" continued Junpei

"Or perhaps something Gallagher would've been proud of?" said Matt, with a stiff upper lip and a limey accent

"Or maybe some-"

"All right already!" Yukari shouted "You know what I mean!"

With that she stormed out of the room. Matt slowly raised his hand

"Really, I don't." he turns to Junpei "What is it that I supposedly know that she means?"

Junpei shrugged "I dunno…"

They turn to Minako, she holds her hands up "Hey don't look at me, I'm as confused as you two are..."

She wasn't. She knew perfectly well what Yukari meant, though…

…Given the two guys' reactions she was pretty certain they wouldn't try to pull any "funny stuff" in that sense

"But seriously though." Says Junpei "I didn't come to hassle you guys or anything. If you guys got any problems, my door is open so to speak. You guys can count on your 'ol pal Junpei here!"

Matt brofisted Junpei and then checked his watch "_Oh, shit!_"

He turns to Minako "We're gonna be late for the train!"

Minako squeaks and grabs Matt by the wrist. With the speed of an anime character, she dashed off with him flailing around like a ragdoll and left Junpei in the dust.

"I forgot to tell them about the school clubs and stuff…" sighed Junpei

[Iwatodai Dorm]

Minako barged through the heavy doors of the dorm and flung Matt forwards as if he were a boomerang (please note that by now any and all impossible or unrealistically comedic instances such as what has just happened only exists in the epicness and hilarity of an animated series) Matt landed on one of the couches with his eyes going all swirly and completely white with shock

"Whew!" cried out Minako "I got us here pretty fast, didn't I?"

Matt was gasping for breath as if he had just swam up to the surface from the bottom of the sea in one millisecond flat

Minako pouted "You act as if you've never travelled by Genki Girl Super Speed™…"

Matt let in one last gasp and then spoke (he was still out of breath) "I'm American, we don't have Genki Girls."

Minako twirled over to the couch she had tossed Matt on and sat down next to him "Well that is simply tragic for you poor American boys…" she said with mock surprise "…however do you get through the day?"

Matt shrugged "Mostly we either watch copious amounts of porn, try to get laid, obsess over sports or guns, or we start reading Twilight and either go gay or go emo."

"Seriously?"

"Not really."

"I have a question though…"

"Fire away."

"What's Twilight?"

"You are so better off knowing…"

[Homeroom]

It was composition with Ms. Toriumi, and one of Matt's greatest fears became a reality.

"Matt, would you please read the phrase on the board and point out articles and adjectives?" asked Ms. Toriumi

Matt gulped and slowly, and whilst trembling something awful, raised his head from his random scribbles and doodles

"Umm…" he said nervously "With all due respect, Ms. Toriumi, couldn't Junpei or Kenji do it?"

Ms. Toriumi sighed "Normally I would, but to give off the illusion that I do not specifically target those two, I picked you this time."

Matt looked confused "Did you seriously just say that out loud?"

"Yes and I'm joking."

Matt let out a sigh of relief and slouched in his seat

"About the second thing not the first." She said quickly "You still have to read and point out the adjectives and articles in the phrase on the board…"

Matt went back to panicking and gulped again "Uhh…"

Matt began sweating bullets and looking at the line of kanji, all of the strange looking characters began swirling off the blackboard and turned into malicious faces that were all laughing at the American and all saying how feeble and dimwitted he was. This does not mean in any way, shape, or form that Matt is either insane or mentally challenged…he was just freaking out…

Matt rose out of his seat with a quick motion "I don't know!" with that he jumped out the window and into a pit of boiling lava that felt like shame and embarrassment…

…at least that is what he did in his head. In the real world he was curled up in the fetal position and looking like he had just experienced a dementor attack.

"I think you broke him, Ms. Toriumi…" said Kenji

[Infirmary]

The regular nurse was out and the substitute was in. This meant that Matt was lucky enough to not have to ingest or experience any odd or obscure medical treatment with roots to magic and or the supernatural that could possibly damage his health and physical well-being permanently.

"Normally I would just say 'just keep soaking it', but it seems that there is nothing to soak." Said a doctor that looked completely out of place "Nothing at all. Nothing at all."

"So how are you going to bring him back, doc?" asked Minako, who had brought Matt there in the first place

"Hmm…" doctor procured a little tin of smelling salts from his doctor coat pocket. He opened it up and placed it under Matt's nose. Matt's eyes went from bug-eyed to normal, yet disgusted

"Blegh!" grimaced Matt "_What the deuce?_ You trying to make me barf or something?"

Once Matt got a good look at the quack he recognized the strange out of place man "Hey…aren't you the doctor from _Courage the Cowardly Dog_?"

The doctor's eyes went wide in shock and were visible from out of his bushy eyebrows and beard "Oh, would you look at the time?"

With that the doctor grabbed his things and dashed off back to Nowhere, Kansas.

"Well that was weird." Said Minako "Now are you gonna tell me what happened back there?"

Matt looked panicked and his eyes darted around the room "What? What are you talking about? Nothing happened! Nothing at all!"

Minako gave him a sideways look and said "Really?"

"Yeah!" he said "I am A-OK!"

"Then what was your major freak out in homeroom all about?" she asks with a smirk adorning her adorable face

Matt froze up and could not find any logical excuse for what he had done. He gave up trying to think up an excuse and let out a sigh of defeat

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes, but I doubt everyone who's crowding outside the door, eavesdropping on us can…"

Matt had a deadpan expression on his face and walked over to the door, he took a step back and opened it, letting a huge gaggle of their peers come avalanching in to the infirm

"Scram." Said Matt with his deadpan expression, their classmates made themselves scarce

Matt shut the door and sat back down on the gurney bed

"Like I was saying…" Matt shot a sideways glare at the door and tossed a shoe at the door, the sound of feet running away from the door was heard "Like I was saying, I have a secret."

"Yeah…"

"One that is pretty big…"

"Go on…"

"Ican'treadkanji!" he shouted as he slammed his head on the bed

"Wha?"

"mphhmmphmdpawodm…" mumbled the American

"What?"

Matt got his face off of the bed and he looked at his female friend "I can't read kanji."

"Seriously?" she said "That's the big secret?"

"Yeah…"

Minako started laughing at him

"No worries man!" she said with a pat on his shoulder "Have no fear! Great Teacher Minako is here!"

Minako struck a pose and flashed a peace sign

Matt's mood went from depressed to joyous as he now had an "in" with this very cute girl.

"Yes!"

"But…"

There's always a "but"

"You have to give me Spanish lessons."

Matt sighed in relief "That's fair."

They shook on it and the deal was struck

Wednesday, April 8th 2009 [After School]

[Iwatodai Dorm]

A rather uneventful day had passed and Minako thought it would be best if they did the kanji lessons during lunch and the Spanish lessons on Sunday nights. As they walked into the dorm they saw a man in a sophisticated looking brown suit and glasses talking to Yukari.

"Oh, they're back." Said Yukari, her gaze hardening at Matt

"So, this is our new guest, good evening." Said the sophisticated looking man "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki, I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school."

The man chuckled a little

"'Ikutsuki' Hard to say, isn't it?" he says "That's why I don't like introducing myself. Even I get tongue-tied sometimes."

"Not really hard to pronounce, sir." Said Matt, something about the man was getting on his nerves

"Yeah, it's not that hard…" said Minako

"Oh." Said the man with surprise "Well, I apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations. However, it may take a while longer before you receive the proper room assignment. Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"No, not really." Said Minako

"Nope." Said Matt

"Then I hope you have a successful school year." He bows "Now, if you'll excuse me. You two must be tired from all the excitement, both of you should go to bed early. As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm'!"

Ikutsuki chuckles "Please forgive the bad pun."

Yukari, Matt, and Minako walked up the stairs

"You'll get used to his lame puns." Said Yukari

"_Sé que ese pendejo me va a cabrear._" Muttered Matt "Seriously, that guy just rubs me the wrong way, ya know?"

Minako was too tired to comment, she was more focused on hitting the hay

Matt walked her to her room, much to Yukari's chagrin, and then headed off for his

[~|)/-\rk |-|0|_|R~]

Matt was wide-awake in his bed, the world had taken on a greenish hue, and the bottle of water he had left on his desk had turned to blood. He was lying down on his stomach and was trying to go to sleep. He was just about to nod off when he heard the whir of a security camera. He moved quickly and swifly…

[Command Room]

"I kinda feel bad spying on her like this…" says Yukari

"Well, moving on to our other prospective candidate…" said Ikutsuki as he turned his head to the monitor to Matt's room only to find a black screen…

"Hmmm…" he said "He must have thrown something over the camera in his sleep…"

Yukari gave the chairman a sideways glance "You sure he just didn't find it and tear it out?"

"Oh, you know Americans; dumber than a sack of rocks."

"Can't argue with that…"

Thursday, April 9th 2009

[~|)/-\rk |-|0|_|R~]

Matt was holding an aluminum bat in one hand and a broken and battered hidden camera in the other. He was in some sweats and a black undershirt, looking quite peeved especially with his normally slicked back brown hair now messy and unkempt and his green eyes shining with anger and irritation as opposed to his normally confident glow. He walked up the stairs to the fourth floor and swung open the door, throwing the scrapped camera down onto the carpet floor

"I wanna know who the fuck put a hidden camera in my goddamn room right now!" he shout with his bat pointed at Ikutsuki "Now which one of you perverts put it in my room?"

Mitsuru was the only one that seemed to be unperturbed by the American's outburst "Is there a problem, White-san?"

"Hell yeah, there's a fuckin' problem!" he shouts "Some pervert stuffed a camera in my room!"

"White-san, calm down or I will have to ex-"

Suddenly some beeping was coming from the command console, Mitsuru answered it "Command room. Is that you Akihiko?"

"You're not gonna believe this, this thing is huge! Unfortunately, I don't have time to talk..." Said Akihiko "It's chasing me, I wanted to let you guys know. I'm almost there."

Yukari looked like she was about to have an aneurysm "Does that mean he's bringing it here?"

"Bringing what here!?" shouts Matt "What the fuck is going on?"

Mitsuru was telling Ikutsuki to do something while Akihiko came in and slammed the door behind him

"Get ready to be surprised, it'll be here any second…" he says with a confident grin

"White, Takeba, go get Arisato." Commanded Mitsuru "Akihiko and I will deal with it."

"Right." Nodded Yukari

"_This better be good_…" muttered Matt in his native English

Yukari and Matt where jogging down to Minako's room then Matt noticed Yukari carrying a naginata and a bow and arrows

"Where the hell did you get those?" he asks

"I grabbed them from the armory."

"We have an armory?"

"Yeah…"

"This is no normal dorm is it?"

"You have no idea."

Yukari got to Minako's door and started pounding on it "Wake up! Sorry, I'm coming in!"

She walks into the room while Matt starts bouncing on his heels, waiting for anything to happen. He heard some ruckus coming from downstairs and some glass shattering. He turned around and ran into Minako's room.

"There's something downstairs!" he calls

"To the roof!" says Yukari as she ran past the American and went up the stairs with Minako behind her.

"_To the roof then_…" he mutters as he jogs up after them

They reached the roof an she locked the door.

"Alright, we should be safe here…" said Yukari

"You know that's what people say in horror movies right before-"

Some beeping and a frantic Yukari later and there was a pitch black hand holding a blue mask at the other end of the roof

"_Naw shit…_" he says as it crawls onto the roof

Yukari was about to say something but Matt decided to do something stupid

"LEEROY JENKINS!" shouted Matt as he charged with his bat raised high and a warrior cry

Yukari and Minako facepalmed as the American charged headfirst into the fray. The Magician would have sighed if it were a normal being; it blocked the strike with its many blades and then launched the American into the air. It then went for Yukari, singing her with an Agi and sending her evoker flying to Minako. Minako put the evoker to her head and sighed

"Per…so…na…" she pulled the trigger and a robotic maiden with a heart shaped lyre floating behind her appeared

"_Thou art I…and I am thou…_" the robot said "_I am Orpheus, mistress of strings_…"

Suddenly Orpheus began convulsing in pain and Minako was brought to her knees by the utmost pain. The mechanical musician's head was torn open by a creature clad in black and wielding a sword

One could only describe it as death incarnate. It slaughtered The Magician and then let out a mighty roar. The creature was dead and death incarnate became Orpheus once more before fading away.

The left behind tendrils of The Magician became Shadows of their own and started crawling over to the trio of high school students

Matt witnessed the whole thing and got to his feet "Yo! Minako!"

She turned to him

"Toss me that gun!" he called

"Right!" she shouted as she tossed the evoker to Matt and then swung her naginata at the Shadow in front of her

Matt caught it and then placed it to his temple "Hopefully this won't hurt…"

He pulled the trigger and felt raw power course through his veins, he looked behind him and saw an anthropomorphic lion wearing an ancient Greek peasant's outfit, hunched over in a boxer's pose

"_Thou art I…and I am thou…_" it said to Matt "_I am Leo Nemaeus…the Lion Lord of Slaughter…_"

Matt turned around and pointed to the Shadow in front of him "GO!"

The Persona charged forward and punched the Shadow into the ground. The Shadows were dead and all was well.

Leo Nemaeus and Orpheus were gone and Matt was bushed. He turned to Minako and saw that she had collapsed he and Yukari rushed over to her…

That night, their lives were never the same…

**WOOT!**

_**Next time on Champion of The Strength Arcana**_

_**Matt and Minako join SEES and descend into Tartarus!**_


End file.
